PHOENIXVILLE — The Phoenixville Area School District board approved the final budget for the 2012-13 school year, which includes a 1.66 percent tax increase, at Thursday’s public meeting.

The $77,743,531 budget was passed, 7-2, with both school board president Paul Slaninka and Kevin Pattinson as the dissenting voters.

As it stands, the millrate on the new budget stands at 28.24, a 0.46 mills increase. For a house at the district’s median assessment, $133,540, the increase in taxes will be $61.43 for the year.

Now that the budget is approved, it will now be filed with the state.

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According to Superintendent Alan Fegley, the real estate tax hike is the smallest increase in 20 years.

Although Slaninka voted against the budget, he expressed his pleasure with how the budget process went this year.

“Past boards have gotten themselves into trouble by not doing enough,” he said. “This board will always allow any member to bring up a topic and talk about it thoroughly. ... I commend the board on their effort in this.”

As such, at Thursday’s meeting there were a handful of amendments various board members brought forward that were discussed and voted on that would have affected the budget.

No amendments were passed, but substantial discussion was held on a few.

A few amendments were proposed regarding the school district’s funding of the Phoenixville Public Library.

The library requested and was budgeted $508,000, the same amount it received last year. There were two amendments that would have brought the funding down to $498,000 or $488,000, had they passed.

Susan Meadows, president of the library board and also a resident of the district, stated the library’s case for the funding it requested. She said the library not only benefits students and families of students, but Phoenixville as a whole.

“If nothing else, keep the budget as it is,” Meadows said. “Moving forward, we need to provide the services that we do to the community.”

Betsy Ruch, of the school board, reiterated Meadows’ sentiments.

“Those people that don’t have a kid still will benefit by funding the library,” she said.

Both amendments to reduce funding failed, with just Slaninka, a member of the library’s board, and school board member David Ziev voting for the cuts.

An amendment that ended in a close vote was one that called for the cut of the district’s pay-to-participate plan that requires a fee for extra-curricular activities like sports and clubs.

Instead of fees, the tax rate would be raised to 1.76 percent to cover the cost of extracurriculars.

“It did affect some students this year,” Dr. Daniel Cushing, a school board member, said of the program. “Some did not participate.”

The 2011-12 school year was Phoenixville’s first under the program and there were some growing pains attached, admitted Fegley and Stan Johnson, executive director of operations for the district.

“Any time you implement a program like this, especially one that’s not that popular, you’re going to have some headaches,” Johnson said.

Although the district’s education foundation helped provide the funds for students who could not afford the fees, Cushing said there is “some embarrassment for those that needed to ask,” and he believes that embarrassment is so great that some never asked.

Cushing and others at the meeting said they had heard of instances where some students didn’t participate in extracurriculars because of the fees.

Ruch said “we live in an entitlement society” and doesn’t believe it’s fair for everyone to incur some cost for the number of students that do extracurriculars.

“I don’t see why the person living on $13,000 a year on social security should pay for my grandson to play soccer,” Ruch said. “I think it’s something he can appreciate more having paid for it.”

The elimination of pay-to-participate was voted down 5-4 with Slaninka, Ruch, Jan Potts, Irfan Kahn and Ziev against it and Josh Gould, Patinson, Cushing and Kenneth Butera for it.

The public was vocally in opposition to an amendment that proposed eliminating one teacher position from the three recommended on the elementary school level.

The reduction would have accounted for $75,000 in savings, according to district documents.

Kathy Dougherty, a community member, said that other cuts could be found to make up the cash.

“You can find a way to put in a teacher,” she said.

The board determined all three positions were needed and the vote received no second and failed before reaching a voting stage.

Earlier in the 2012-13 budget process, there was talk of what would happen if a zero percent increase were pursued this year.

However, it was decided by many on the board that a zero percent increase would prove too costly for future budgets and cause huge leaps in taxes in future years.

The original proposed budget called for a 5.08 percent tax hike. However, after monthly budget meeting led by Gould, the board’s treasurer, the cuts were made to reduce the budget without also completely cutting district programs.

Joe Antonio, who was hired last summer as the district’s director of continuous improvement, was instrumental in finding areas that warranted cuts.

He was praised at the meeting after giving a presentation on his first year of work in the district.

“I can safely say to the public that it was an excellent move to hire Joe,” Slaninka said.

The board also praised the Community Budget Advisory Committee, run by the Phoenixville Community Education Foundation, for its work.

About the Author

Frank Otto is a general assignment reporter covering Phoenixville, Limerick and Spring-Ford schools in addition to features and spot news. A graduate of the University of Wisconsin, Otto moonlights with the sports department on occasion. Reach the author at fotto@pottsmerc.com
or follow Frank on Twitter: @fottojourno.